Have you heard of Cassis pearls?

Cassis Pearls - Photo by Sarah Anderson

Article by Katerina Perez on Instagram - @katerina_perez

I met Katerina in Hong Kong. She is a well know jewelry influencer.

Luciano Policicchio from Shanghai Gems -@shanghaigems - has shared 5 interesting facts about this rare sea mineral.

I also met Luciano in Hong Kong. Shanghai Gems has an amazing assortment of natural and cultured pearls available.

1. Cassis pearls come from the Cypraecassis rufa or cassis cornuta and are large sea snails - gastropod molluscs from the Cassidae family. They occur in Indo-Pacific seas such as the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, off the southern African coast, northern KwaZulu-Natal, Kenya, Madagascar and Mozambique, as well as in the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean from The Philippines to Indonesia.

2. The Cassis shell was used for engraving cameos since Renaissance (15th – 16th centuries) and is still being used today for cameos. Before that time, cameos were carved from hardstone.

3. Cassis natural pearls are as rare as Conchs, MeloMelo and all pearls from Gastropod. A Natural Cassis pearl can be found in one shell out of 20,000.

4. Cassis has the same structure and pattern of flame as Conch pearls and its colors range from orange to brownish and pale pink to almost white.

5. Price for Cassis pearls is usually half of a Conch or Melo and depends on several factors such as color, shape and structure flames. If you find a round, deep orange color with nice shades and strong structure flames, price will increase drastically. Cassis pearls are less used in jeweler than other natural pearls as Conchs or Melo. I think it is because that pearl is less known and so less requested by final customers.

There is a lack of awareness of cassis pearls on the part of the public and also of most professionals in the jewelry sector. It is up to us to educate people in order to publicize these natural wonders.

Buy Cassis Pearls Here.


Our son, Matthew, stopped by this morning and invited me to join him for a cold morning swim in our pond! How could I resist? What fun - I should do that every morning!

God bless,